Engaging the Public to Win in the Global Marketplace

How to successfully engage the public, or to be more specific, public sentiment and governmental control over business, is a crucial leadership issue especially for a globalized corporation. GLOBIS presented two great experts to tackle this issue.

GLOBIS Professional Seminar
“Engaging the Public to Win in the Global Marketplace”

Mark Kennedy, Director, Graduate School of Political Management, George Washington University
Shin Tanaka, President/CEO, FleishmanHillard Japan

How to successfully engage the public, or to be more specific, public sentiment and governmental control over business, is a crucial leadership issue especially for a globalized corporation.

GLOBIS presented two great experts to tackle this issue: The Honorable Mark Kennedy, Director of the Graduate School of Political Management at the George Washington University and a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives; and Mr. Shin Tanaka, the President of the FleishmanHillard Japan and a GLOBIS faculty member who teaches strategic communication for executives.

Today, the public and governments are increasingly less tolerant toward mistakes and wrongdoings by corporations. One misstep can trigger a sudden outburst of public sentiment against that company, quickly ruining its reputation and operations. When this occurs, it is up to the leaders of a company to successfully engage the public and avoid further losses.

Ultimately, public sentiment and governmental control over business can be such strong forces that practically determine what a company can or cannot do in a particular area or country. They even have power and discretion to shut down operation of a company (or at least part of it).

Take, for example, the recall incident involving Toyota in 2009-2010, where the Japanese automaker came under fire from the U.S. government and through a number of lawsuits, which were fueled by intense accusations against Toyota among the U.S. public, despite that no electronic defects were found. In emerging economies, a similar incident can be even more likely, since their governments often have more power over business.

Public sentiment can be easily affected by things ranging from the stock market to geopolitics, or even weather, which can change very rapidly, randomly and violently. What can a business leader do to thrive in this constant state of risk?

Learn about how to deal with these issues from the perspectives from the dynamism of Public Affairs in Washington DC, as well as from the professional expertise of "the most complete communications agency in the world."